Some Fundamental Teachings

by

C. W. Leadbeater

FOREWORD

THE papers in this compilation were all written by
Brother C. W. Leadbeater about the years 1892-95, in London. The manuscript
book, from which the papers which follow are reprinted, is in my own
handwriting. Brother Lead­beater used to write first on small pieces of
paper, usually the inside of envelopes received with letters; from them I
copied into manuscript books. It is from the papers in this manuscript book
in my handwriting that later he compiled the larger work The Masters and
the Path.* (*Mr. Ernest Wood assisted greatly in compiling this work; he
was an excellent amanuensis, and Brother Leadbeater often relied on him to
shape unrevised manuscripts, reports of lectures, etc., into literary form
for publication.)

At this period which I mention, there existed in London
two groups of occult students who were dedicated to the work of the Masters.
The first group was that which had gathered round H. P. B. at the London
Headquarters, and after her death continued as the Inner Circle of the E. S.
T. with Brother Annie Besant as the head. The second group was that which
had gathered round Mr. A. P. Sinnett since 1883. On the arrival of Brother
Lead­beater and myself in London at the end of 1889, we became members of
the second group, as both of us were guests, of Mr. Sinnett, and lived with
him for two years. In 1894, Brother Besant too became a member. Later, some
of us of this London Lodge Group were admitted by her into the E. S. T. into
its highest grade.

The members of this group of Mr. Sinnett numbered at this
time about twenty. They met fairly frequently, and took up various aspects
of Theosophical teachings for study and discus­sion. After several such
discussions, some member of the group would be charged with the work of
gathering what material he could from Theosophical works, The Secret
Doctrine in particular; it was his task then to for­mulate the topic in
a paper to be read to the group for further discussion. Thus, for instance,
during several meetings much time was spent in trying to understand the
subject of root races and sub-races. The material in The Secret Doctrine
was not adequate; the principal defect was the lack of definition as to
what constitutes the difference between one root race and another, and how a
new root race arose out of the old. One member was instructed to read as
many works as he could on Ethno­logy, and to report what they conveyed
regarding the various races. This work was done by Mr. John Varley, who
after three months’ study read a paper. The value of this paper lay in
pointing out the great contradictions and gaps in the theories of the
ethnologists.

Questions on the races were then formulated by the group,
to be presented to the Masters. The questions were presented by Brother
Lead­beater to the Master K. H. The Master, how­ever, did not answer them,
but passed them on to the Master M., saying that they appertained to the
department of His Brother. It was also the Master M. who answered the
questions regarding the formation of the Solar System. The answers of the
Master M. were written down by Brother Leadbeater as accurately as he could
recollect, and as mentioned above, I my­self copied them down into a
manuscript book.

Regarding the subject of the Rays, for several years
there had existed with him a small memorandum, with a table of the Rays, but
there were no explanations; I recollect his saying frequently that it
was a very secret memo­randum of the teachings given at Adyar by the Master
D. K. in 1885-6, concerning matters not revealed to the world.

The other papers contain teachings which Brother
Leadbeater had received at various times from the Master K. H. and His
senior pupils; here and there he has added to them explanations of his own,
in order to make the subject clearer. The paper on the Aura was the result
of his own investigations.

Though the material in this work has already appeared in
several forms in other publications, I am reprinting the original manuscript
book, as it contains much in brief, and serves well as a book of study. A
few explanatory notes have been added by me.

C. J.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword

iii

The
Steps of the Path

1

The
Hierarchy of the First Ray

17

Notes
of a Conversation on the Origin of the Solar System

20

On the
Origin of Races

25

The
Aura

34

The
Rays

47

The
Deva Evolution

64

The
Future of Humanity

67

The
Shadow of the Buddha

72

THE STEPS OF THE PATH

EASTERNbooks tell us that there are four means by
which a man may be brought to the beginning of the Path:

1. By the companionship of those who have already
entered upon it;

2. By hearing or reading of definite teaching on the
occult philosophy;

3. By enlightened reflection, that is to say, that by
sheer force of hard thinking and close reasoning he may arrive at the truth
or some portion of it for himself;

4. By the practice of virtue, which means that a long
series of virtuous lives, though it does not neces­sarily involve any
increase of intellectuality, does eventually develop in a man sufficient
intuition to enable himto grasp the necessity of entering upon the
Path of spiritual advancement, and show him in what direction it lies.

When, by one or another of these means, he has arrived at
this point, the Path to the highest Adeptship lies straight before him, if
he chooses to take it. In addressing students of Occultism it is hardly
necessary tosay that, at our present stage of development, we cannot
expect to learn all, or nearly all, about any but the lowest steps of this
Path; whilst of the highest we know little but the names, though we may get
occasional [1] glimpses of the indescribable glory which surrounds
them.

So much as we can comprehend will perhaps be more easily
grasped if we group the steps in three great divisions; but I wish it to be
understood that I am dividing them merely for convenience in describing
them, and that this arrangement has no official sanction. These three
divisions, then, are:

1. The Probationary Period, before any definite pledges
are taken, or Initiations (in the full sense of the word) are given.

2. The Period of Pledged Discipleship, or the Path
Proper, whose four stages are often spoken of in Oriental books as the Four
Paths of Holiness.

3. What we may venture to call the Official Period, in
which the Adept takes a definite part in the government of the world, and
holds a special office connected therewith.

We must here guard against a misconception. Every Adept -
every Pupil even, when once definitely accepted - takes a part in the great
work of helping forward the evolution of man; but those standing on the
higher levels take charge of special departments, and corres­pond in a
general way to the Ministers of the Crown.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD

Before going into details of the Probationary Period, it
is well to mention that in most of the Eastern sacred [2] booksthis stage is regarded as merely preliminary and not as part of the Path
Proper at all, for they consider that the latter is really entered upon only
when definite pledges have been given. Considerable confusion has been
created by the fact that the numbering of the stages occasionally commences
at this point, though more often at the beginning of what Ihave
called the second great division; sometimes the stages themselves are
counted, sometimes the Initiations leading into or out ofthem, so
that in studying the books one has to be perpetually on one’s guard against
error. This Probationary Period, however, differs considerably in character
from the others; the divisions between its stages are less decidedly marked
than are those of the higher groups, and the requirements are not so
definite or exacting. Butit will be easier to explain this lastpoint after giving a list of the five stages of this period, with their
respective qualifications. The first four correspond very closely to the
“four accomplishments preliminary toChelaship,” of which Mohini* (*Mohini
Mohan Chatterji.) wrote so ably in the first Transaction of this Lodge* (The
London Lodge of the Theosophical Society.) - so closely indeed that I need
touch upon these four steps only slightly here, referring those who wish for
fuller definitions to that most valuable article. The first stage then is
called among the Buddhists:

1. MANODVARAVARJANA (the opening of the doors of the
mind), and in it the candidate acquires a firm intellectual conviction of
the [3] impermanence and worthlessness of mere earthly aims. This is
often described as learn­ing the difference between the real and the unreal;
and to learn it often takes a long time and many hard lessons.

2. PARIKARMA (preparation for action), in which the
candidate learns to do the right merely because it is right, without
considering his own gain or loss either in this world or the future, and
acquires; as the Eastern books put it, perfect indifference to the fruit of
his own actions.

3. UPACHARA (attention or conduct), in which what are
called “the six qualifications” are acquired. These are:

(a) Sama (quietude),
purity of thought, or rather per­haps, perfect mastery of one’s own
thoughts.

(b) Dama (subjugation),
a similar mastery over, and therefore purity in, one’s own actions and
words.

(c) Uparati (literally,
cessation), independence of thought.

(d) Titiksha
(forbearance), cessation of desire, by which is meant the readiness to part
with anything and everything worldly, whenever it may be necessary. It also
includes the absence of resentment for wrong.

4. ANULOMA (direct order or succession, signifying that
its attainment follows as a natural consequence from the other three), in
which is acquired an intense desire for liber­ation from earthly life and
for union with the highest.

5. GOTRABHU (the condition of fitness for Initiation). In
this stage the candidate gathers up, as it were, his previous acquisitions,
and strengthens them to the degree necessary for the next great step, which
will set his feet upon the Path Proper as an Accepted Pupil. The attainment
of this level is followed very rapidly by Initiation into the next grade. In
answer to the question, “What is Gotrabhu?”the Buddha says:
“The man who is in pos­session of those conditions upon which the
commencement of sanctification immediately ensues - he is the Gotrabhu.”The wisdom necessary for the reception of the Path of Holiness is called
Gotrabhunana.

Now that we have hastily glanced at the steps of the
Probationary Period, we must emphasize the point to which reference was made
at the commencement - that the perfect attainment of these accomplishments
and qualifications is not expected at this early stage. As Mohini says: “If
all these are equally strong, Adept­ship is attained in the same
incarnation,” but such a [5] result is, of course, extremely rare. It
is in the direction of these acquirements that the candidate must
cease­lessly strive, but it would be an error to suppose that no one has
been admitted to the next step without possessing all of them in the fullest
possible degree.

It is obvious that, as far as we have gone, a man might
easily be working along the Path unconsciously to himself, and no doubt many
a good Christian, many an earnest Freethinker, is already far on the road
that will lead him to Initiation, though he may never have heard the word
“Occultism” in his life. I mention these two classes specially, because in
every other religion occult development is recognized as a possibil­ity, and
would certainly therefore be intentionally sought by those who felt
yearnings for something more satisfactory than the exoteric faiths.

We must also note that the steps of this Probationary
Period are not separated by Initiations in the full sense of the word,
though they will certainly be studded with tests and trials of all sorts and
on all planes, and may be relieved by encouraging experi­ences, and by hints
and help whenever these may safely be given. We are apt sometimes to use the
word Initiation somewhat loosely-as, for example, when it is applied to such
tests as have just been mentioned; properly speaking it refers only to those
solemn ceremonies at which a Pupil is formally admitted to a higher grade by
an appointed Official, who in the name of the Occult Hierarchy receives his
plighted vow, and puts into his hands the new key of knowledge [6]
which he is to use on the level to which he has now attained. Such an
Initiation is taken at the entrance to the division which we shall next
consider, and also at each passage from any one of its steps to the next.

THE PERIOD OF PLEDGED DISCIPLESHIP

OR

THE PATHPROPER

It is on the four stages of this division of the Path
that the ten Samyojana or Fetters, which bind man to the circle of
rebirth and hold him back from Nir­vana, must be cast off. And here comes
the difference between this period of Pledged Discipleship and the previous
Probation. No partial success in getting rid of these fetters is sufficient
now; before a candidate can pass on from one of the steps he must be
entirely free from certain of these clogs; and when they are enumerated
it will be seen how far-reaching this requirement is, and there will be
little cause to wonder at the statement made in the sacred books that seven
incarnations are sometimes required to pass through this division of the
Path.

Each of these four steps or stages is again divided into
four. Each has:

(1) its Magga or way, during which the student is
striving to cast off the fetters;

(2) its Phala (result or fruit), when he finds the
results of his actions in so doing shewing themselves more and more; [7]

(3) its Bhavagga or consummation, the period when
the result having culminated, he is able to fulfil satis­factorily the work
belonging to the step on which he stands;

(4) its Gotrabhu, meaning, as before, the time
when he arrives at a fit state to receive the next Initiation. The first
stage is

I. SOTAPATTI or SOWAN. The Pupil who has attained this
level is spoken of as the Sowani or Srotapanna -“he
who has entered the stream,” because from this period, though he may linger,
though he may succumb to more refined temptation and turn aside into the
higher branches of black magic, he can no longer fall back altogether from
spirituality and become a mere wordling. The fetters which he must cast off
before he can pass into the next stage are:

1. SAKKAYADITTHI - the delusion of self.

2. VICHIKICHCHA - doubt or uncertainty.

3. SILABBATAPARAMASA - superstition.

The first of these is the “I am I” consciousness, which,
as connected with the Personality is nothing but an illusion, and must be
got rid of at the very first step of the real upward path. But to cast off
this fetter com­pletely means even more than this, for it involves the
realization of the fact that even the Individuality can never have any
interests opposed to those of its brethren, and that it is most truly
progressing when it most assists the progress of others. For the very sign
and seal of the attainment of the Sotapatti level is the first
entrance of the Pupil into the plane above the [8] Devachanic - that
of the Samadhi or Sushupti. It may be - nay, it will be
- the merest touch of that stupen­dously exalted condition that the Pupil
can as yet experi­ence, even with his Master’s help; but even that touch is
something that can never be forgotten, something that opens a new world
before him, and entirely revolution­izes his feelings and conceptions. Then
for the first time, by means of the extended consciousness of that plane, he
truly realizes the underlying unity of all; then first he gets some slight
glimpse of what the love and compassion of a Buddha must be.

As to the second fetter, a word of caution is neces­sary.
We who have been trained in European habits of thought are unhappily so
familiar with the idea that a blind unreasoning adhesion to certain dogmas
may be claimed from a disciple, that on hearing that Occultism considers
doubt as an obstacle to progress, we are likely to suppose that it also
requires the same unquestioning faith from its followers as modern
superstitions do. No idea could be more entirely false. It is true that
doubt (or rather uncertainty) on certain questions is a bar to spiritual
progress, but the antidote to that doubt is not blind faith (which is itself
considered as a fetter, as will presently be seen) but the certainty of
conviction founded on individual experiment or mathematical reasoning. While
a child doubted the accuracy of the multiplication-table he would hardly
acquire proficiency in the higher mathematics; but his doubts could be
satisfactorily cleared up only by his attaining a compre­hension, founded on
reasoning or experiment, that the [9] statements contained in the
table are true. He believes that twice two are four, not because he has been
told so, but because it has become to him a self-evident fact. And this is
exactly the method, and the only method, of resolving doubt known to
Occultism.

Vichihichcha has been
defined as doubt of the doct­rines of Karma and Reincarnation, and the
efficacy of the method of attaining the highest good by this Path of
Holiness; and the casting off of this Samyojana is the arriving at
absolute certainty, based upon reason, that the occult teachings upon these
points are true.

The third fetter to be got rid of comprehends all kinds
of unreasoning or mistaken belief, all dependence on the efficacy of outward
rites and ceremonies to purify the heart. He who would cast it off must
learn to depend upon himself alone, not upon others, nor upon the outer husk
of any religion.

The first three fetters are in a coherent series. The
difference between Individuality and Personality being fully realized, it is
then possible to some extent to ­appreciate the actual course of
Reincarnation, and so to dispel all doubt on that head. This done, the
knowledge of the spiritual permanence of the true Ego gives rise to reliance
on one's own spiritual strength and so dispel superstition.

II. SAKRIDAGAMI. The Pupil who has entered upon this
second stage is spoken of as a “Sakridagamin,” “the man who returns
but once” - signifying that a man who has reached this level should need but
one [10] more incarnation before attaining Arhatship.* (*In The
Masters and the Path the term Sakridagami is explained as
follows: “The man who returns but once, which means that he should need but
one more incarnation before attaining Arhat­ship, after which there is no
compulsory rebirth.”) At this step no additional fetters are cast off, but
the Pupil is occupied in reducing to a minimum those which still enchain
him. It is, however, usually a period of considerable psychic and
intellectual advancement.

III. ANAGAMI. The Anagamin (“he who does not
return”) is so called because, having reached this stage, he ought to be
able to reach Arhat ship in the life he is then living. In this step he
finally gets rid of any lingering remains of the two fetters of:

4. KAMARAGA - attachment to the enjoyment of sensation,
typified by earthly love, and

5. PATIGHA - all possibility of anger or hatred.

The student who has cast off these fetters can no longer
be swayed by the influence of his senses either in the direction of love or
hatred, and would be free from either attachment to or impatience of
physical plane conditions.

Here again we must guard against a possible
mis­conception - one with which we frequently meet. The purest and noblest
human love never dies away, is never diminished by occult
training; on the contrary, it is increased and widened until it embraces all
with [11] the same fervour which is at first lavished on one or two:
but the student does in time rise above all con­siderations connected with
the mere personality of those around him, and so is free from all the
injustice and partiality which ordinary love so often brings in its train.

IV. ARHAT (the venerable, the perfect). In this stage the
occultist casts off the five remaining “fetters,” which are:

6. RUPARAGA - desire for beauty of form or for physical
existence in a form, even includ­ing Devachan.

7. ARUPARAGA - desire for formless life.

8. MANO - pride.

9. UDDHACHCHA - agitation or irritability.

10. AVIDYA - ignorance.

On this we may remark that the casting off of Ruparaga
involves not only getting rid of desire for earthly life, however grand
or noble that life may be, and astral or Devachanic life, however glorious,
but also of all liability to be unduly influenced or repelled by the
external beauty or ugliness of any person or thing. Aruparaga -
desire for life either in the highest and formless planes of Devachan or in
the still more exalted plane of Samadhi is merely a higher and less sensual
form of selfishness, and must be cast off just as much as the lower.
Uddhachcha really means “liability to be disturbed in mind,” and a man
who had finally cast off this fetter would be absolutely unruffled by
any­thing whatever that might happen to him - perfectly [12]
impervious to any kind of attack upon his dignified serenity.

The getting rid of ignorance of course implies the
acquisition of perfect knowledge - practical omni­science as regards our
Planetary Chain. Then he reaches the fifth stage, the stage of full
Adeptship and becomes:

V. ASEKHA, “the One who has no more to learn - again as
regards our Planetary Chain. “He is now free from all sin; He sees and
values all things in this life at their true value; all evil being rooted
from His mind, He experiences only righteous desires for Himself and tender
pity and regard and exalted love for others.” To show how little He has lost
the sentiment of love, we read in the Metta Sutta of the state of mind of
One who stands at this level: “As a mother loves, who even at the risk of
her own life protects her only son; such love let there be towards
all beings. Let goodwill without measure prevail in the whole world, above,
below, around, unstinted, unmixed with any feeling of differing or opposing
interests. When a man remains steadfastly in this state of mind all the
while, whether he be standing or walking, sitting or lying down; then is
come to pass the saying: ‘Even in this life has holiness been found’.”

Beyond this period it is obvious that we can know nothing
of the new qualifications required for the still higher levels which yet lie
before the Perfect Man, and stages of the Third Period are therefore but
little more than names to us. It is abundantly clear, [13] however,
that when a man has become Asekha, He has exhausted all the possibilities of
moral development, so that further advancement for Him can only mean still
wider knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers. Not all of those
who reach this exalted level .commence this further advancement immediately;
the Asekha has earned the right to pass the remainder of the Manvantara and
the succeeding Pralaya in the beatific repose of Nirvana, and some Adepts do
this.* (*For more light on the Path before the Adept, which has been
described as opening up in seven great ways, see Man: Whence, How and
Whither,and The Mastersand the Path.) Others, for
the sake of working on for the benefit of humanity, proceed to qualify
themselves - how, we know not - for the first grade of what we called the
Official Period.

THE OFFICIAL PERIOD

The first step of this division, but the sixth of the
Path of Holiness, is:

VI. CHOHAN. The Adept who attains this level on any Ray
but the First or the Second takes command of the Ray to which He belongs,
wields its influences, and controls and directs its work. (See paper on the
Rays.)

The next step is to become:

VII. MAHACHOHAN. The Chohan who passes the Initiation
which gives Him this rank does not, however, give up His post as Head of His
own Ray, [14] butcombines with His previous functions the
position ofCommander-in-Chief of the whole. This very exalted rankis the highest which can be attained in this Manvantara on any of the
five Rays; the Adept who wishes to pass still higher before entering Nirvana
must asit were force Himself on to either the First or the Second
Ray, for on these, this Seventh Initiation is not thehighest. It is
only after prolonged and tremendous effort that the position of

VIII. BUDDHA, the Head of the Second Ray, can be
reached. Some slight idea of the wonderful powers andqualities of
the holder of this office may be gained fromexoteric literature; but
occult study increases a hundred-fold the reverence and awe which one cannot
butfeel for One who stands upon such a pinnacle of goodness. Al1 the
spiritual powers of the previous stages are in Him enormously intensified,
and are accompanied also by others entirely new, and to us incomprehensible.
With the same facility of motion withwhich the Adepts pass from
world to world of our Chain, He passes from Chain to Chain through the Solar
System. Above Him is but one step more, and the Initiation leading to that
differs from all others, in thatit cannot be given by the Superior,
but must be evolved by each for Himself. This brings us to the contemplation
of

IX. THE LORD of THE WORLD - that Mystic Being
whose consciousness in some mysterious waycomprehends the whole of
our planet and its inhabitants atonce, whose lieutenants are the
Manus, who alone [15] among human kind can pass beyond the limits of
the Solar System, and can enter while yet on earth that realm of the
Planetary Spirits which for all others lies beyond Nirvana. Of Him it is
useless to speak further. [16]

THE HIERARCHY OF THE FIRST RAY

AN Adept who sets before himself the glorious ambition to
help the world as a Manu must first transfer Himself tothe First Ray
if not already upon it; then by gaining on that Ray the Initiation
corresponding to that of the Chohan on other Rays, He qualifies Himself for
the arduous position of the Root-Manu of a Race. The successful performance
of the duties then undertaken brings Him tothe next step - that
corresponding tothe level called Mahachohan. The position He then
holds has yet no name in English, for its duties consist in directing and
wielding, in the cause of humanity, great spiritual forces, whose very
existence is unknown except to the higher Initiates - forces about which
therefore nothing more can at present be said. The same is true in if
possible an even greater degree of the next level - that of the Pachcheka or
Pratyeka Buddha, sometimes called the Buddha of Confession, on which stand
the three Pupils of the LORD of the WORLD.The Pachcheka Buddha has
been strangely enough misunderstood by those writers who have de­scribed Him
as a selfish one who refuses to teach what He has learned and passes away
into Nirvana. It is [17] true that though on the Buddha level He does
not teach, because humanity depends on Him for other work: true that a time
comes when He has to leave the world - not to enter Nirvana, but to carry on
His glorious work elsewhere. The next step - the Initiation that none can
give, but each must take for himself - puts the Adept on the level of the
Lord of the World, an office which is held first for the shorter period of a
first or second Lord on one world, then, if that has been satisfactory, for
the longer responsibility of the third upon some other; for at these sublime
heights, an Adept belongs to and works in no one world only, but the Solar
System. The Lord who takes the third term of office remains in charge of the
world as Silent Watcher until the human life-wave again arrives, and again
leaves it, when He convoys humanity safely to the next planet. The later
steps of His evolution would be Root Round Manu, Seed Round Manu, Root Chain
Manu, Logos of Seven Chains, Logos of Solar System. But it must be
understood that of each of these levels there are many degrees; on each of
them there are different spheres of work so that it would frequently happen
that a great Spirit might take charge of several worlds or several Chains in
succession before passing to the next grade. Thus the grades from the Root
Race Manu are:

That corresponding to the level of Mahachohan,

Pachcheka Buddha,

Lord of the World,

Silent Watcher,

Root Round Manu, [18]

Seed Round Manu,

Root Chain Manu,

Logos of Seven Chains,

Logos of Solar System.

It will be of deep interest to members of our group to
hear that for both of the Masters with whom our Society has had the closest
touch, the Chohan level is now very near - that within a very short time we
shall have to hail Them by the higher title.* (*This Initiation took place
on the full moon day of Wesak, 19th of May 1894.) Mahatma Morya will take up
the work of the Root Manu for the Sixth Root Race; while Mahatma K.H. will
be the Buddha of the Seventh Root Race. [19]

NOTES OF A CONVERSATION

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM*

(* The Teacher who gave the instruction was the
Master M.)

QUESTIONSrelating to the origin of Chains or
Solar Systems are excessively difficult to answer, and any replies given are
likely to prove somewhat misleading since they must of necessity be
extremely incomplete. Nor is the subject one to be approached lightly, for
the working out ofthe plan of a System and its component
Chains requires the use throughout incalculable ages of forces of the most
stupendous character wielded by Beings of ineffable glory and power - the
Ah’hi or Builders. All the most important forces are as yet entirely unknown
to mankind, and those who as they climb the Steps of the Path gain
theoretical and elementary knowledge of some of them are not allowed to
divulge even the little they know. These considera­tions tend to show that
the subject of Cosmogenesis may be more profitably studied, as to its
details at any rate, when more extended capacities of compre­hension have
been developed. Many limitations and reservations must therefore be taken
for granted in the [20] attempt which is made to answer the questions
proposed.

The exalted Being who undertakes the formation of a
System first of all forms in His mind a complete con­ception of the whole
with all its successive Chains; and by forming that conception calls the
whole into simultaneous existence on a certain plane, from which the various
globes descend when required into whateverstate of objectivity may
be respectively destined for them. This process of descent may often be
gradually going on for many ages before the globes are apparently used in
any way or before indeed they would seem to man to exist at all.

I.Turning to the detailed questions:

We find an enquiry as to the accuracy of the
nebular hypothesis. In its broad outline it is undoubtedly correct, and
there are Systems in which every detail, including even the origin of the
stellar impact, has been carried out exactly as science supposes. But the
Cosmic Builders are not limited to one method, and though our own Solar
System commenced its existence in the form of a nebula, thatnebula
was not originated by collision. Its Builders first set up a centre of
inconceivably intense electric action - actionnot only upon the
lower planes in connec­tion with which alone we know something of
electricity, but upon all the higher ones as well. This produced a
correspondingly intense electric field, the diameter of [21] which
was considerably greater than that of the orbit of Neptune. It must be borne
in mind that though this is formed in what appears to us to be empty space,
it is in reality in an absolutely solid block of ether, and this intense
action of the higher form of electricity transforms the whole of this vast
sphere into a kind of vortex into which more and more of ethereal matter is
drawn, until, when sufficient condensation is secured, a shock of a
different character causes this to change into a mass of glowing gas at a
temperature of which it is impossible to have any conception. Thus, though
by a different method, we arrive at the glowing revolving nebula which
science postulates, and from this point the development of the globes
follows the plan ordinarily understood. This of course refers only to the
matter of the physical globes; the majority of the worlds of any System are
those on the higher planes, and naturally the physical condition of the
System does not in any way affect the life upon them, so that the earlier
stages of evolution of many Chains have made considerable pro­gress before
the glowing mass of physical matter is ready to be formed into even the
.most rudimentary worlds. The number and position of the globes is, as
be­fore stated, part of the original plan and the breaking up of the
revolving nebula into rings is regulated according to the requirements of
the case. Such a ring of physi­cal matter not yet aggregated into a single
globe may be seen in what are called the asteroids. When a physical world is
required, in that locality a minor vortex ring will be set up, which will
absorb one after another [22] of those smaller bodies as they cross
its orbit, the heat generated by the numerous collisions welding the whole
into one nebulous planet.

II. Did the Moon come into existence before the
Earth? Was it physically thrown off from the body of nebulous matter
destined to form the Earth?

As explained above, the whole System came into existenceat the same time. But the Moon wascertainly brought into
objectivity and fitted for habita­tion before the Earth. It would therefore
be incorrect to speak of it as thrown off from the latter; rather we might
say that the matter now composing both the Moon and the Earth was originally
one ring, first of nebulous, then of meteoric matter. When the Moon was
required only so much of this ring was collected in its vortex as was needed
for it, the material of the future Earth still remaining distributed round
the orbital ring.

III. Was this Earth already in existence - even if hot
and uninhabitable - during the full activity of the Lunar Chain?

This has practically been answered above as regards the
physical matter, though there was of course a long period of lunar decline
when both existed together; but we must never forget that the Earth truly
existed upon the higher plane from the first.

IV. Is the planet which will be the fourth of the next
Manvantaric Chain yet in existence?

Not yet in existence as a planet on the lowest plane, but
the place of its vortex ring is decided, and the [23] necessary
physical matter for its globe will readily be gathered from the various
meteoric streams intersect­ing its orbit, and also from the remains of the
then disintegrated Moon.

V. What is the condition of the globes of this Chain
before anything comesover from the Lunar Chain?

Each on its respective plane was in preparation for its
future work, but it is difficult to give any description of them that will
be really comprehensible, as they were then the theatres only of those lower
forms of cosmic evolution which are practically beyond the comprehen­sion of
the physical senses.

VI. Are the Elemental Kingdoms of this Chain
derived from those of the Lunar Chain?

As regards the three Kingdoms previous to the mineral,
they may be said to have come over, but the Elemental Essence evolving
through atoms and molecules of course was present before.

Note. In considering
these subjects it is always well to remember that the Powers who direct the
course of evolution invariably make the fullest possible use of every globe
at all periods of its history - during its stages of preparation and decay
as well as the time of its greatest activity. Several streams of evolution
are usually flowing through any given planet, and there is no part of its
existence during which it is not a fit channel for one or more of these.
[24]

ON THE ORIGIN OF RACES

I. What really takes place at the commencement of a
root-race?

The commencement of a root-race involves some­thing more
than the mere physical change, though as it is with the latter we are
chiefly concerned just now, it would be well to consider it first. When the
time comes for the formation of the nucleus of the new race, which usually
happens soon after the middle of the period of the previous face, the
Root-Manu who has charge of this important business first selects His
material from the best developed sub-race then existing on earth. From the
very flower of the sub-race, He chooses a comparatively small number - it
may only be a few families - whom He considers most suitable for His
purpose; then by some means or other He contrives to segregate these from
the rest of their countrymen and establish them in some remote country where
they may be undisturbed for generations. This might obviously be done in
various ways; sometimes a great Prophet might arise whom a few of the
noblest spirits of the time would follow into the desert; religious or
political persecutions might compel the chosen few to seek a [25]
foreign asylum; revolution or conquest might drive them from their ancestral
home.

This new colony He watches with jealous care, guarding it
from possible admixture with lower races and surrounding it with such
conditions as He considers best suited to develop the qualities required.
Then after some generations of this, isolation, if the experiment proves
satisfactory, the Manu Himself incarnates as the Founder of the new
root­-race. The image or model of this race is already before Him, having
been conceived from the beginning in the mind of the Demiurgos, and the Manu
of course, having no evil Karma behind Him to compel the inter­ference of
the Lipikas, is able to build for Himself a practically perfect Linga
Sharira exactly in accordance with this pattern. Thus He is born, and
probably arranges to become Chief or High Priest of the tribe over which He
still exercises the same watchful care.

All His descendants will then belong to the new race, and
though they can hardly be as physically perfect as their Progenitor, yet by
judicious selection in the course of several generations the type of this
new race is clearly established. As the centuries pass, the tribe grows into
a mighty nation which eventually spreads out in all direc­tions, absorbing
or driving before it the effete races in its path. In connection with such
expansions or migra­tions, it must be remembered that all lineal descendants
of the new race count as members of that race for the purposes of the
reincarnating Ego; and when once the new strain is thoroughly
differentiated, no admixture [26] with lower races can entirely blot
out its special characteristics.

But all this care is expended upon the physical
development of the new race only in order to provide fitting vehicles for
those Individualities who have already so far advanced as to be incapable of
finding suitable expression in the lower race, and since the new race
usually commences when the previous race has but half run its course, it is
obvious that the small number of Egos who have then exhausted its
capabilities must be far in advance of the main body; and though this is a
subject on which no detailed information has been given, it is stated that
the Egos who first incar­nate as direct descendants of the Manu require and
receive special treatment from the very highest Authori­ties, the Lord of
the World Himself or His Representa­tive quickening into activity that
latent capacity in them, the development of which is the special business of
the new race. When the new race gets into full swing, when the currents
directing it are fairly set in motion, this special interposition seems no
longer necessary, though the Manu still watches over and guides the
develop­ment of the race.

II. Is the type of each race on the
higher plane the chhayya (“shadow”)thrown off by the Lunar Pitris?

The chhayyas thrown off by the Lunar Pitris are
rather the types of the Seven Great Rays and the seven sub-divisions of each
of them which run through all races and sub-races alike. Great caution is
required in the interpretation of some symbolic expressions which [27]
it was necessary to use in regard to this very occult subject.

III. May a fifth race man take birth among fourth race
people and somake himself a fresh centre of fifth race development?

Broadly speaking he cannot, but within the special group
of families segregated by the Manu, such a reincarnation may take place in a
body not lineally descended from Him, though even then it is done only by
His aid and would require especially close and long supervision from Him.

III. In case of a transfer of a man from the last
incarnation in the fourth race to first incarnation in the fifth, is unusual
assistancenecessary in growing the third and fourth principles?

As above stated, at the foundation of the race and for
generations after it, every step requires constant watching and occasional
assistance, but after the currents are fully in motion this is no longer
necessary in any but exceptional cases.

V. Can we be told of any definite characteristics by
which we may distinguish the root-races?

The broad physical characteristics of the three main
types are quite distinct, as scientific writers recognize, and can generally
be traced through two or three intermixtures: but it would not be safe to
depend solely on any physical characteristic when dealing with the­
extremely mixed fragments of most of the earlier races, though an Adept
could at once classify them by exami­nation of the aura surrounding them.
[28]

VI. Is the Dravidian fifth or fourth race?

The majority of the Dravidian race contains as a matter
of fact more of the third race blood than either of fourth or fifth.
Originally representing the highest of the Lemurian sub-races, it was deeply
tinged with the fourth race element by intermixture with an early Atlantean
sub-race, while at the present time its higher castes belong chiefly to the
fifth race, by virtue of an infusion of the blood of the Aryan sub-race. We
have here therefore a very fair example of the extreme difficulty of
deciding any question of race upon merely physical evidence; for here,
within the limits of what science considers one race, it would be quite
possible to have fifth race egos incarnate among the Brahmans, the fourth
race Egos among the lower castes, and some lingering third race among the
hill tribes.

VII. May we have a list of the sub-races of the fourth
and fifth races?

IV

1. Rmoahal

2. Tlavatli

3. Toltec (Maya, Quichuas)

4. First Turanian (Old Chinese)

5. Original Semite (Kabyle)

6. Akkadian

7. Mongolian (with Japanese and Malays as later
offshoots)

V

1. Hindu

2. Aryan Semite

3. Iranian

4. Celtic* (* including ancient Greeks and Romans).

5. Teutonic

Some explanation is necessary as to the principle on
which these names are given. Wherever modern ethnologists have discovered
traces of one of these sub-races or even identified a small part of one, the
name they have given to it is used for the sake of [29] simplicity;
but in the case of the first two sub-races of the fourth root-race there are
hardly any traces left for science to seize upon; so the names by which they
called themselves are given. The Furfooz man may be taken as a fair specimen
of the first, and the Cromagnon man of the second, the lake-dwellers being
an earlier and less pure branch of the latter. Remnants of some of their
branches still exist in various parts of the world, but must not be taken as
representatives of the races at their best. The third sub-race was a
magnificent development, and ruled for thousands of years in great material
power and glory both in Atlantis and South America. To it belong the
earliest of the highly civilized empires of Mexico and Peru, which existed
for long ages before their degenerate descendants were conquered by the
fiercer Aztec tribes from the north. These three sub-races are often spoken
of as the red races, while the four following, though they differed
considerably, may all be called yellow.

As regards the fifth sub-race - the original Semite­ -
ethnologists have been somewhat confused, as indeed it is extremely natural
that they should be, considering the very insufficient data to go upon. This
sub-race had its origin in that northern and more mountainous part of the
great Atlantean continent which in those early days was considered its least
desirable portion. There it grew and flourished for centuries, success­fully
maintaining its independence against aggressive southern kings till the time
came for it in turn to spread abroad and colonize. A very fair
representative of it [30] atthis period, as far as physical
appearance goes, still survives in the lighter coloured Kabyle of the
Algerian mountains, though its civilization was of course far more advanced
than his. From it in due time was chosen what was intended to be the nucleus
of the fifthroot-race, and the spot selected for the necessary
preparations, explained in answer tothe first question, wasan oasis in the Arabian desert.

After some generations had elapsed, however, the Manu in
charge was not perfectly satisfied with the result of the experiment, so
before taking the crucial step of entering into incarnation He effected a
further segregation choosing from among the descendants of those origin­ally
selected a few of the most suitable, and causing themto migrate to
the Central Asian Sea. This time all went well, and in due course the Manu
incarnated, andthe seed of the great Aryan race was sown. After itssub-race was well established, though before its great expansion, a
handful of its members were sent back to Arabia to Aryanise the descendants
of the original segregation, who by this time had grown into a collection of
tribes large and powerful. By slow degrees the new blood permeated the nomad
clans, and thus it comes that the later Semites, though retaining much of
their old physical type, are truly Aryan, and in fact formthe second
Aryan sub-race. A curiously perverted recollection of the fact that they had
once been a chosen race led one small branchlet of the originally segregated
Semite to decline altogether the ­admixture of the newer and nobler blood,
and to this [31] day the Hebrew race retains many Atlantean
char­acteristics to show its pure fourth race descent.

It should be noted that the seventh or Mongolian
sub­-race did not come from Atlantis proper at all, but was developed on the
plains of Tartary from descendants of the fourth or Turanian sub-race, which
it gradually supplanted over the greater part of Asia. This sub-­race
multiplied exceedingly, and even at this moment a majority of the earth’s
inhabitants technically belong to it, though many of its divisions are so
deeply coloured with the blood of the earlier races as to be scarcely
.distinguishable from them. More than once, tribes of Mongolian descent have
overflowed from Northern Asia into America across Behring’s Straits, and the
last of such migrations, that of the Khitans some 1300 years ago, has left
traces which some western savants have been able to follow. The presence of
Mongolian blood in some tribes of North American Indians has also been
recognized by various writers on ethnology.

When studying this question of races, it must not be
supposed that a new root-race or sub-race invariably swoops down upon its
predecessors, as the Goths and Vandals did upon Rome, or migrates in a body,
as the Helvetii tried to do; quite often it spreads slowly by emigration and
colonization, as the Anglo-Saxon race is spreading now, so that the
transition of any particular nation from one race or sub-race is often a
very gradual process extending over many generations, during which it would
be practically impossible to decide from mere physical characteristics under
which head it should be [32] classed. It may in fact be taken for
granted that exactitude in regard to details in this study is only
attainable by the use of psychic power in examining the auric surroundings
of each nation or tribe, almost of each individual. [33]

THE AURA

We are all familiar with the idea that every human being
is surrounded by a sort of luminous cloud, which we have agreed to call “the
aura,” and we have heard from those who have succeeded in developing the
special sense by which it is cognized that it has various beautiful colours,
and that from a study of it much may be learnt as to the disposition, the
thoughts, and every the past life of its possessor. In our Theosophical
books, however, we find but little mention of this aura. It may, therefore,
be not uninteresting to collect and arrange such information on the subject
as is at our disposal. This is by no means so easy a task as it might
perhaps be supposed to be, for we have first to trace the difficulties which
arise from the extreme complexity of the human aura, and secondly, the fact
that, in this, as in so many other cases, the untrained sight is
practically useless for the purpose of close comparison and exact analysis -
a consideration which of course reduces the number of available witnesses.
The description which follows is therefore not to be considered as by any
means complete or exhaustive; the most it can claim is the probability of
being fairly correct as far as it goes. [34]

Before considering what may be called the aura proper -
that which surrounds the body - it may be worth while to glance at certain
phenomena observable by the partially developed sight within the limits of
that body. A person possessed of such sight, even to a very small extent, is
at once able to assure himself at first hand of the accuracy of Theosophical
teaching on the subject of the seven principles of man, at least as far as
the lower five are concerned. The Linga-Sharira* (*This term is used
here to mean the Etheric Double.),for example, is clearly visible as
a mass of faintly luminous bluish-grey mist, exactly coinciding with the
physical body and apparently interpenetrating it. It would probably not be
scientifically accurate to say that Jiva* (* Life-force or
vitality-force, since renamed in Theosophical literature as Prana.)itself in the abstract can be seen at all, but what certainly is its
manifestation in the case of the human race is conspicuous as a constant
stream of particles of a beautiful pale-rose colour, which seem to flow over
and through the whole body along the nerves, in the same manner as the blood
corpuscles flow along the arteries and veins, the brain being apparently the
centre of this nervous circulation.

The absorption and specialization for the use
of the human body of the life-force which is being con­tinually poured upon
the earth from the sun appears to be one of the functions of the organ
called the spleen, and in a healthy man it does its work in so generous a
fashion that the specialized Jiva is constantly radiating [35]
from the body in all directions, forming thereby one of the auras with which
we shall deal later. A man in perfect health therefore not only is able
intentionally to impart some of it to another by means of mesmeric passes or
otherwise, but is constantly though uncon­sciously shedding strength and
vitality on those around him. On the other hand, a man who from weakness or
other causes is unable to specialize for his own use a sufficient amount of
the world’s life-force sometimes, equally unconsciously, acts as a sponge
and absorbs the already specialized human Jiva of any sensitive
person who is unfortunate enough to come into contact with him - to his own
temporary benefit, no doubt, but often to the serious injury of the victim.
Probably most people have experienced this in a minor degree - have found
that there is some one among their acquaintances after whose visits they
always feel a quite unaccount­able weariness and langour. A similar
lassitude is frequently felt by persons who attend spiritualistic seances,
without taking special precautions against the drain upon their vitality set
up by the entities evoked on such occasions.

Coming now to what we have called the aura proper - that
which surrounds the body - we find that it is exceedingly complex in its
structure. At the first glance it is seen as a luminous cloud extending to a
distance of about eighteen inches or two feet from the body in all
directions, and therefore approximately oval in shape, whence it is
sometimes spoken of in occult writings “as the auric egg”. In most cases it
has no [36] well-defined outline, but its edges fade into
invisibility very gradually.

A closer study of this cloud soon reveals not only that
it has several distinct components, but that these com­ponents consist of
matter in different states. Each of them is, as it were, a distinct aura,
and would, if the others were withdrawn, be seen to occupy the same space as
the entire mass. They are, however, of obviously different degrees of
tenuity, and each apparently interpenetrates the one below it just as the
Linga-Sharira is seen to penetrate the physical body. No doubt, to the
sight of the Adept, the aura, like everything else, is sevenfold; but to
eyes regarding it from the infinitely lower level of ordinary humanity, only
five of its component parts are usually visible.

The first of these - beginning with the lowest and most
material - is the one which we must suppose appertains most to the physical
body. It is sometimes called the health aura, from the fact that its
condition is greatly affected by the health of the physical body to which it
is attached. It is almost colourless, and has fine appearance of being
striated, that is, it is full of, or perhaps it might rather be said to be
composed of, an infinitude of straight lines radiating evenly in all
directions from the body. That at least is the normal condi­tion of these
lines when the body is in perfect health; they are separate, orderly, and as
nearly parallel as their radiation allows; but on the advent of disease
there is an instant change, the lines in the neighbourhood of the part
affected becoming [37] erratic and lying in all directions in the
wildest confusion.

So closely connected with this is the second or Jivic
aura, that it will perhaps simplify matters to describe the latter,
before proceeding to consider the relation between them. It was stated above
that the specialized Jiva is constantly radiating from the body and
it is of the matter radiated that the Jivic aura consists. But here
must be noted a curious fact of which the explana­tion is not apparent. The
Jiva so radiated no longer possesses the rosy colour by which it is
so easily distin­guished while circulating through the body, but has a faint
bluish-white hue. The easiest way to give an idea of it is perhaps to say
that it closely resembles, both in the appearance and in the character of
its pulsations, the heated air which may sometimes be seen in the summer
morning rising from the ground exposed to the sun’s rays. It is often spoken
of as the magnetic aura, and it is by its use that many of the physical
phenomena of mesmerism seem to be produced. This is no doubt the magnetic
flame seen by the sensitive in Baron Reichenbach’s experiments.

It is perhaps this constant radiation of Jiva from
the healthy body that causes the rigidity and parallelism of the lines of
the health aura; at least, as soon as this radiation ceases, the lines fall
into the confused condition described above. As the patient recovers, the
normal radiation of this magnetic form of the life-force is gradually
resumed, and the lines of the health aura are thereby combed into order once
more. As long as the lines are firm [38] and straight and the Jiva
steadily radiates between them, the body seems to be almost entirely
protected from the attack of evil physical influences such as germs of
disease - such germs being repelled and carried away by the outrush of the
life-force; but when from any cause - through weakness, through an
accidental wound, through overfatigue, through extreme depression of spirits
or through excesses of an irregular life - an unusually large amount of
vitality is required to repair damage or waste within the body, and there is
conse­quently a serious diminution in the amount radiated, this system of
defence becomes dangerously weak, and it is comparatively easy for deadly
germs to effect an entrance.

It may also be mentioned that it is possible by an effort
of the trained will to check this radiation of Jiva at the outer
extremities of the health aura, and there to build it, as it were, into a
kind of wall or rather shell which will be absolutely impervious to any kind
of astral or elemental influence, so long as such effort of the will is
maintained.

The third of the auras with which we have to deal is that
which expresses Kama or desire. It would not be strictly correct to
say that this is the Kama Rupa, since that can accurately be applied
only to the image of the physical body which is condensed from the material
of the third aura after death; but it is the field of mani­festation of
Kama, the mirror in which every desire, every feeling, almost every
thought even, of the Personality, is reflected. From its material, bodily
[39]

form is given to the dark elementals* (* Thought-forms.)
which men create and set in motion by evil wishes or malicious feelings;
from it also (unfortunately more rarely) are bodied forth the beneficent
elementals called into life by good wishes, gratitude and love. From it is
formed that “astral body” in which those who find themselves able, to do so
travel about on another plane while the physical body sleeps. As might
naturally be expected, there is little of permanency about its
manifestations; its colours, its brilliancy, the rate of its pulsation are
all changing from moment to moment. An outburst of­ anger will charge the
whole aura with deep red flashes on a black ground; a sudden fright will in
a moment change everything to a mass of ghastly livid grey.

It should, however, be borne in mind carefully that
though these auric manifestations are impermanent, the records in the
Akasha are not so; though the elemental created by an evil wish will
cease to exist after a period proportioned to the strength of that wish, yet
the living photograph of every instant of its life remains in the Akashic
record, and all the wide-spreading results of its actions during that
life are charged with absolute justice to the Karma of its creator.

Very closely linked with this ever-changing Kamic
aura is the fourth - the aura of the Lower Manas - the­ record of the
progress of the Personality. It represents indeed the general average of the
aura below it; but it is much more than this, for in it appear beams of
spirituality and intellectuality which have no place on [40] the
lower level. If the flashes of colours formed by the vibrations connected
with any particular desire are repeated strongly and habitually in the
Kamic aura, they undoubtedly set up corresponding vibrations in this
Lower Manasic aura, which produce there a per­manent tinge of the same
colour. In this therefore may be read the general disposition or character
of the person-his good points and his bad ones; and through currents in
connection with this aura are laid open the picture-record of the past
earth-life of the Personality, which some clairvoyants are able to read page
by page like an open book. When a man leaves his body during sleep, this and
the higher aura are still with him, while the first and the second aura
remain with the body, together with the pale residuum of the third which has
not been needed in the formation of the astral body. Of course if he passes
to the higher Devachanic or spiritual plane he leaves much more behind him.

With regard to these third and fourth auras, a subject of
some interest is the assignment of their various shades of colour to the
mental or moral qualities they betoken. Among untrained seers, however, much
difference of opinion seems to exist on this point, and we are told that
what is called the personal equation enters even more into this question
than into most others connected with sight on higher planes. Indeed it is
only after a course of careful training and long-continued and constant
practice that an occult student feels he can depend upon the accuracy of his
sight upon the astral plane at all. There is of course a higher [41]
level of instruction upon which no mistake is possible, but recollections
brought back even from that plane may be distorted by the
personal equation, when an attempt is made to express them in words. The
list of colours and their meanings which follows must therefore be taken for
what it is worth, as the expression of opinion of two or three persons only.

COLOURS IN THE AURA

Thick black clouds in
the aura usually indicate hatred and malice.

Deep-red flashes on a
black ground show anger, but in the case of what we call “noble indignation”
on behalf of some one oppressed or injured the flashes are brilliant scarlet
on the ordinary background of the aura.* (* Red is a very generic term, and
later researches have revealed that certain shades of red represent good
feelings and thoughts. There is a beautiful and splendid red which betokens
love marked by admiration, high resolve and courage.)

Crimson - indicates
love. This is often a beautifully clear colour, but naturally it varies
greatly with the nature of the love. It may be a quite dull, heavy crimson,
or it may vary through all the shades up to a most lovely rose colour as it
becomes more and more unselfish and pure. If this rose colour is brilliant
and tinged with lilac, it shows the more spiritual love for humanity.

Orange - if clear, seems
to indicate ambition; if tinged with brown, pride. But in this colour also
the variations are so numerous, according to the nature of the, pride or
ambition, that it is impossi­ble to give more than a general description.

Yellow - expresses
intellectuality, a deeper and duller colour if the intellect is directed
chiefly into lower channels; brilliantly golden, rising to a beautifully
clear lemon yellow as it is addressed to higher and more unselfish objects.

Bright green - seems to
show ingenuity and quickness of resource and often implies strong vitality.

Prussian blue - usually
indicates religious feeling and naturally varies very much, to indigo in the
one [43] direction and to rich deep violet in the other, according to
the nature of the feeling and especi­ally according to the proportion of
selfishness with which it is tinged.

It will be understood that all the colours are subject to
almost infinite combinations and modifications, so that to read the detached
indication of an aura perfectly is a very difficult task. Then of course the
general brilliancy of the aura, and the comparative definiteness or
indefiniteness of its outline, and the relative brightness of the Chakrams
or centres of force - all these points and many more have to be taken into
consideration. It should perhaps be mentioned that developed or developing
psychical faculties seem always to be shown by the colours which lie beyond
the visible spectrum - by the ultra-violet when used solely for unselfish
purposes, but with gruesome combinations of ultra-red in the case of the
intentional dabblers in black magic, especially some of the instruments of
the Dugpas. Occult advancement shows itself not only by colours but
by the greater ­luminosity of the aura, by its increased size and more
definite outline.

We now come to the consideration of the fifth aura -
­that of the Higher Manas or Individuality. Needless to [44]
say it is not round every one we meet that this aura is to be seen.
In those cases in which it is visible it is of almost inconceivable delicacy
and beauty. It is perhaps less a cloud of colour than of living light; but
indeed description seems useless. In the aura of an Adept this so immensely
predominates over the aura of the Personality that the latter is practically
non-existent; but the Adept aura is a separate study, quite beyond the
powers of those who stand but at the commence­ment of the Path. In it, for
example, an all-important consideration would be that obscure and mysterious
factor, the influence of the particular Ray to which he belonged, and
strangely enough, considering the re­condite character of the subject, a
tradition - a perfectly accurate tradition - of this fact has been preserved
in many of the roughly drawn pictures of Gautama Buddha which one sees upon
temple walls in Ceylon.

There the great Teacher is represented with an aura the
colouring and general arrangement of which would be grotesquely inaccurate
and in fact impossible, if intended for an ordinary man or even an ordinary
Adept (if one may without irreverence use such an expression), but which is
a rough material representation of the actual state as regards the Adepts of
the particular Ray to which the Buddha belongs. It is noteworthy also that
the lines of the health aura are drawn in some of these pictures.

The sixth and seventh auras no doubt exist, but no
information about them is at present available. Of course this little paper
has no pretence to do more than [45]

brush the surface of a very large subject; but it may
serve to show that the aura is not an uninteresting field of study for those
who see it, and since the sight of it is generally one of the earliest
evidences of the opening of a supernormal sense, it is not unreasonable to
hope that all present may shortly find themselves in a position to prosecute
their studies for themselves. [46]

THE RAYS

IN noting down such fragmentary information as has yet
reached us about the Rays, it is necessary to em­phasize the fact that it is
fragmentary; it is not only not a full account of the subject - it is not
even a perfect outline, for we are plainly told that there are huge gaps in
the description given us, which cannot possibly be filled up at our present
stage. So far as we know, very little has hitherto been written on this
subject, and that little is so guardedly expressed as not to be at all
readily intelligible, while occult teachers are markedly reticent when
questioned about it.

What we are told then is this. All life which exists in
our Chain of worlds passes through and belongs to one or other of seven
Rays, each having seven sub­divisions. In the Universe there are forty-nine
such Rays, making in sets of seven the seven great Cosmic Rays, flowing from
or through the Seven Great Logoi. (See The Secret Doctrine.) In our
Chain of worlds however - perhaps in our Solar System - only one of these
great Cosmic Rays is operating and its sub­divisions are our seven Rays. It
must not of course be supposed that our Solar System is the only
mani­festation of that particular Logos, since each of the Seven Great Logoi
may have millions of Systems dependent on Him. When, then, that primordial
matter [47] or spirit which in future was to become ourselves first
issued from undifferentiated infinity, it issued through seven channels, as
water might flow from a cistern through seven pipes; each pipe, containing
its peculiar colouring matter, would so tinge the water that passed through
it that it would for ever after be distin­guishable from the water of other
pipes. Through all the successive Kingdoms, the elemental, the mineral, the
vegetable, the animal, the Rays are always distinct one from the other, and
they are therefore also distinct in man, all mankind belonging to one or
another of them; and although we are not usually conscious of the
distinction amongst our fellows there is little doubt that it influences us
in many ways - probably in our instinctive sympathies and antipathies for
example.

In the animal, vegetable and mineral Kingdoms the
influence of the Ray naturally acts in a somewhat different manner. Since in
those Kingdoms there is no individualization, it is obvious that the whole
of one species of animals (for example) must be on the same Ray; so that the
different kinds of animals in the world might be arranged in seven parallel
columns according to the Rays to which they belong. Since an animal can only
differentiate through association with man, at the head of each of these
Rays stands some class of domestic animal through which alone
differentiation on that particular Ray takes place. The elephant, dog, cat
and horse are examples of such classes, so that it is clear that the impulse
of the universal life which is now animating (say) a dog can never [48]
animate a horse or a cat, but will continue to manifest through the same
species until differentiation takes place.

There is, however, another aspect in which
these seven Rays must be regarded. In addition to realizing them as channels
through which all life has flowed and is flowing, we must also think of them
as influences operating in turn upon the whole world, that is to say, that
although the seven Rays are undoubtedly acting upon the world all the time,
yet each Ray has in turn its period of dominant influence, and just as in
each race we have sub-races, so in each of these periods of special
influence we have sub-divisions again. To make this clear let us put aside
for a moment the thought of the world-periods and consider only the period
of a single root-race. In that time each of the seven Rays will be dominant
in turn-perhaps more than once; but in the period of dominance of
each Ray, there will be seven sub-cycles of influence, accord­ing to a
rather curious rule which requires some expla­nation. Let us take, for
example, that period in the history of a race when the Fifth Ray is
dominant. During the whole of that epoch, the central idea of that Ray (and
probably a religion founded upon it) will be prominent in the minds of men;
but that time of prominence will be sub-divided into seven periods, in the
first of which its idea, though still the principal one, will be coloured by
the idea of the First Ray, and the methods of the First Ray will be to some
extent com­bined with its own. In the second of its sub-divisions, its idea
and methods would be similarly coloured by [49] those of the Second
Ray, and so on, so that in its fifth sub-division it will naturally be at
its purest and strongest. It would seem as though these divisions and
sub-divisions ought to correspond with the sub-races and branch races
respectively, but it has not hitherto been possible for us to see that they
do so.

RAY

CHARACTERISTIC OF RAY

CHARACTERISTIC OF MAGIC

LAST RELIGION

I

Fohat=Shechinah

-

Brahmanical

II

Wisdom

Raja Yoga (Human Mind)

Buddhism

III

Akasha

Astrology (Natural
Magnetic Forces)

Chaldean

IV

Birth of Horus

Hatha Yoga (Physical
Development)

Egyptian

V

Fire

Alchemy (Material
Substances)

Zoroastrian

VI

Incarnation of Deity

Bhakti (Devotion)

Christianity, etc.,
etc. (Kabala)

VII

Ceremonial Magic

Elemental Worship

[50] The list of the
Rays and their characteristics as given to us is copied here, but it should
be premised that it was accompanied by a warning that much of it would for
the present be in­comprehensible to us and could not be further explained.

It was explained that the religion written opposite each
Ray is not to be taken as necessarily a perfect exposition of it, but is
simply that which now remains on earth as a relic of the last occasion on
which that Ray exercised dominant influence on the world. The magic of the
First Ray and the characteristic of the Seventh were not given. The meaning
of the Birth of Horus could not be explained, but one of the characteristics
of the Fourth Ray was stated to be the use of forces of action and reaction
- the male and the female forces of nature, as it were. Whenever phallicism
occurs in the various religions it is always due to a materialization and
misconception of some of the secrets connected with this Ray. The true
develop­ment of the Seventh Ray would be communication with and instruction
from the higher Devas.

In discussing a subject so complex and so obscure as
this, with a knowledge of it so slight as is ours at present, it is perhaps
hardly safe to adduce instances; yet since we are told that the Sixth or
Devotional Ray is at present dominant, we may fancy that we can trace the
influence of its first sub-cycle in the stories of the wonderful powers
exhibited by the earlier saints; of the second in the Gnostic sects whose
central idea was the necessity of the true Wisdom, the Gnosis; of [51]
the third in the astrologers; of the fourth in the strangely distorted
efforts to develop will-power by the endurance of painful or loathsome
conditions, as did St. Simeon Stylites or the Flagellants; of the fifth in
the alchemists and Rosicrucians of the Middle Ages; while its sixth division
of purest devotion might be imaged in the ecstasies of the contemplative
monastic orders; and its seventh cycle would produce the invocations and
exact adherence to external forms of the Roman Church. On the other hand,
the influence of the dominant Devotional Ray upon the religions left behind
by the earlier Rays may be traced in Brahmanism in the renewed vigour of the
Vaishnavite sects and the rhapsodical outpourings of the Brahmo Samaj, and
in Buddhism in the conception of Lord Buddha in some parts of Burma as a God
to whom prayer may be offered. The advent of modern Spiritualism may be
regarded as a premonition of the influence of the coming Seventh Ray and the
devotion to elemental worship which is so often a characteristic of its
degraded forms, the more so as this movement was originated by a secret
society, which has existed in the world since the last period of Seventh Ray
pre­dominance in Atlantis.

We may surely sometimes discern the influence of these
Rays amongst ourselves, since there are obviously some whose idea of
advancement invariably takes the form of acquisition of more and more
knowledge, while for others the only path through which their highest
possibilities can be attained seems to be that of devotion to some personal
ideal, while others again [52] proclaim their adhesion to the seventh
of the categories by the need for exact rules and formulae by which to work.

It may help a little towards the comprehension of an
exceedingly difficult subject to give one or two examples of the methods
likely to be used by magicians on the different Rays to produce any given
result. The First Ray man would attain his object by sheer force of
resistless will without condescending to employ anything in the nature of
means at all; he of the Second Ray would also work by force of will, but
with the full comprehension of the various possible methods, and the
conscious direction of his will into the channel of the most suitable one;
to the Third Ray man it would come most naturally to use the forces of the
Akasha on the lower Devachanic plane, noticing very carefully the exact time
when the influences were most favourable to his success; the Fourth Ray man
would employ for the same purpose the finer physical forces of the ether;
his Fifth Ray brother would be more likely to set in motion the currents of
the astral light; the devotee of the Sixth Ray would achieve his result by
the strength of his earnest faith in his particular Deity and in the
efficacy of prayer to Him; while the Seventh Ray man would use elaborate
ceremonial magic and probably invoke the assistance of non-human spirits, if
possible.

Again in attempting the cure of disease the First Ray
would simply draw health and strength from the great fountain of universal
life; the Second would thoroughly comprehend the nature of the malady and
[53] know precisely how to exercise his will-power upon it to the best
advantage; the Third would invoke the great Planetary Spirits and choose a
moment when astrological influences were beneficent for the appli­cation of
his remedies; the Fourth would trust chiefly to physical means such as
massage, phlebotomy, etc.; the Fifth would employ drugs; the Sixth
faith-healing; and the Seventh mantras or magical invocations.

If there is sometimes a difficulty in distinguishing
between the Rays when looking at ordinary human beings, that is not at all
the case when we come to consider the Adept Brotherhood. Here the difference
in the aura is much more clearly marked, and the Ray to which an Adept
belongs affects not only His appearance but the work He has to do, each Ray
having its own department - that for which the special qualifications of its
members render them most fitted. What little it is permissible to say on
this subject will be made more comprehensible if we consider the Rays as
divided into three classes - the First Ray by itself, the Second by itself,
and the other five in a group. When thought of in this form they are
sometimes spoken of as the Three Rays, and their respective qualities are
typified in various trinities - as for example, the well-known one of Power,
Wisdom and Love. However, it must not for a moment be sup­posed that, though
love and compassion are the distinguishing marks of this third great class
of Adepts, these virtues are in any way less prominent in the first and
second classes. On the contrary, as we pass higher [54] and higher in
the scale of being, we find these qualities shining with ever-increasing
splendour, so that the divine love of the Adept of the Second Ray would be
but the greater because of the additional development of his superhuman
knowledge, while the tremendous power wielded by the Adept of the First Ray
would be guided by a wisdom and compassion proportionately higher still.
Another somewhat suggestive fragment of symbology describes the three
classes as using re­spectively three kinds of fire to light the sacrifice of
the altar - the electric, the solar and the artificial.

In thinking of these three classes in detail, we shall
find it easier to begin with the third, since to one or another of its five
divisions belong the vast majority of human beings - even among the Adepts
and Their Pupils. At the head of each of these five Rays stands a Chohan,
who wields its influences, and controls and directs its work. All these five
Officials are of equal rank, except that each in turn becomes Mahachohan,
and combines with His previous functions the office of Commander-in-Chief of
the whole. After serving His term in this very exalted position He does not,
however, return to His work as Chohan, but yields that post to the Adept
most fitted for it, and adopts one or another of the various alternative
lines of progress that then lie before Him. Only one of these comes within
the scope of our consideration at present, for all the others would take Him
entirely away from this world. It must be remembered that He has now reached
the highest point attainable on our globe on any of the five Rays, [55]
and if He wishes to pass still higher, before entering Nirvana, He can do so
by quitting His own Ray and as it were forcing himself on to either the
First or the Second Ray, for on these this Initiation of Maha­chohan is not
the highest.

Lest it should seem as though in this fact there lay
something of the nature of an injustice, it must be made clear that Nirvana
is attainable as soon on one Ray as on another; any man on reaching the
Asekha level is at once free to enter this condition of bliss for a period
that to us would seem eternity; but He enters its first stage only, which,
exalted infinitely beyond our comprehension as it is, is yet far below the
higher stages available to the Chohan and Mahachohan respectively, while
even these in turn pale before the glory of those divisions of the Nirvanic
state which those Adepts may reach who make the tremendous effort necessary
to take during earth-life the still higher Initiations of the First or
Second Ray. It will thus be seen that perfect justice is ever the Law of the
Universe for these exalted Beings just as for ourselves; the longer work,
the more strenuous effort, with Them as with us, raises the aspirant to
higher levels; and this possibility of changing one’s Ray by the firm
determination to do so leaves all paths alike open to the occult student. It
is known that both the Masters with whom the Theosophical Society has been
most closely connected have chosen to make this effort, and those of us who
wish to retain our affiliation to Them as individuals are therefore
(consciously or unconsci­ously) in course of making it also. The method by
[56] which the transfer is effected is simple enough in theory,
though often verydifficult to carry out in practice. Suppose, for
example, that a student on the Sixth or Devotional Ray wishes to transfer
himself to the Second or the Ray of Wisdom, he would first endeavour to
bring himself under the influence of the second sub-division of his own
Sixth Ray, and then would continually intensify the influence of that
sub-ray until it finally became the dominant one, and so instead of being on
the second sub-division of the Sixth Ray he would find himself on the sixth
sub-division of the Second, from which he would readily pass on, if he
wished, to its first or second sub-ray. In a word, he would temper his
devotion by increasing knowledge till it became devo­tion to the Divine
Wisdom.

For the Adept of this Second Ray there is one more
Initiation after the Mahachohan level is reached - that of the Buddha. For
Him who attains this position occult writers think no praise too high, no
devotion too deep. And those Masters to whom we look up as all but divine in
goodness and wisdom - just as we regard Them, so to an even greater degree
They regard the Buddha. The last Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama­ - was the
first of our humanity to attain this stupendous height, the previous Buddhas
having been the product of other evolutions.

Seven Buddhas appear during a world-period and each in
His turn takes charge of the special work of the Second Ray, which is the
teaching of the world and the development of the Higher Manas or
Intellect of [57] humanity. His charge of the work does not, as might
be supposed, begin with the attainment of Buddhahood, but on the contrary
ends with it, or rather within a few years after it. His Successor, who will
then be standing at the Mahachohan level, but of course on the Second Ray,
then takes over the responsibility and carries on the work in whatever way
His wisdom sees to be most effective, inspiring and guiding many teachers of
different capacities, methods and doctrines - sometimes sending His pupils
to incarnate among men - sometimes Himself so incarnating, just as He thinks
best. It is said in Eastern books that He himself usually appears on earth
at least once every ten thousand years, either as a religious teacher, a
great statesman, or a great and all-conquering king; and though this last
idea may sound strange to us, we shall see that it may have some foundation
in fact, if we reflect that a great conqueror, of the right kind, may spread
civilization and establish peace over vast areas that could hardly be
reached by any other agency. This is of course only one side, and that the
lowest, of the work of this Second Ray, as of necessity the development of
the Higher Manas takes place chiefly on the Devachanic plane, though
anything that assists man to develop spirituality or guides his intellect
into higher and nobler channels would naturally be a development of this
great work. It must not be for­gotten that the duty of the Head of this Ray
includes the teaching not only of humanity but of all evolutions on earth
which are capable of Manasic develop­ment, including the lower levels
of the Deva evolution. [58]

The present holder of this office is known by the name of
Maitreya - usually spoken of in anticipation of his future position as the
Maitreya Buddha. Though not the absolute head, He acts in many ways as the
leader of the Adept Brotherhood. He takes a very prominent part in the great
Wesak Ceremony, and also recites to the assembled Brotherhood on the
full-moon day of Asala, the Buddha’s first sermon (Dhammachakkappavattana
Sutta),and on both these occasions it has been the privilege of
several of our members to see and speak with Him. When in the far future the
time comes for the advent of another Buddha, the Lord Maitreya will take
that final incarnation in which the great step will be achieved, will then
preach the Divine Law to the world in whatever form may seem to Him most
suited to the requirements of that era, and will pass away at the end of His
earthly life into what is called the “Buddha Nirvana” from which He emerges
as a Dhyani Buddha. That, at least, is the usual course; but our last
Buddha, Gautama, has chosen out of His great pity for and sympathy with
humanity, to renounce for an indefinite period that Nirvana and all its
possibilities, in order that He may still remain within reach of the
suffering world. Once a year on that great Wesak festival He shows Himself
in what is called His shadow or reflection to His Adept Brethren, and pours
down upon Them blessing and strength for the work They have to do. It is
also possible under rare circumstances for the occult student of a certain
grade to invoke the Lord [59] Gautama and obtain from Him advice and
help in any great work that he may have undertaken. The Buddha following the
Lord Maitreya will be our own Master, the Mahatma K.H., who has transferred
Himself to the Second Ray for the express purpose of taking this office,
just as the Mahatma M. has transferred Himself to the First Ray in order to
become the Root-Manu of the sixth race.

And this brings us to the consideration of the First
Ray-the Ray of Power. When an Adept of that Ray reaches the grade of Chohan
(an Initiation which has been taken within the present year by both the
Masters best known to us), He is qualified to undertake the arduous duties
of the Root-Manu of a Race. On that Ray also the steps of Mahachohan and
Buddha may be taken, but the duties they carry with them differ entirely
from those involved on the other Rays. The First Ray Buddha (who is
sometimes called the Pratyeka or Pachcheka Buddha), although His wisdom,
power and love are as fully developed as they would be at the same level on
the Second Ray, does not teach the world, because His work for it is of an
entirely different character; and this fact has given rise to a very curious
misconception - it has caused Him to be misrepresented in some of the books
as selfishly withholding His knowledge from mankind. No idea could of course
be further from the truth. Above His level is but one more step, and the
Initiation leading to that differs from all others in that it cannot be
given by any Superior, but must be evolved by each [60] aspirant for
Himself. Once achieved it places the Adept on the position of the Lord of
the World, that mysterious Being, who, under the eternal Cosmic Laws, rules
the world absolutely, many of what we think its laws being merely the
expression of His will. He is the nearest approach we can imagine to the
best con­ceptions of a God, for His consciousness is of so extended a
nature that it comprehends the whole of our planet and its various
inhabitants at once. In His hands are the powers of cyclic destruction, for
He wields Fohat in its higher forms, and can deal directly with cosmic
forces outside our Chain. His work is probably usually connected with
humanity en masse rather than with individuals, but when He does
influence any single person we are told that it is through the Atma, and not
through the Individuality, that that influence is brought to bear. At a
certain point in the progress of an aspirant on the Path he is formally
presented to the Lord of the World, and those who have so met Him face to
face speak of Him as in appearance a handsome youth, dignified, benignant
beyond all description, yet with a mien of omniscient, inscrutable majesty,
con­veying such a sense of resistless power that some have found themselves
unable to bear His gaze and have veiled their faces in awe. One who has had
this experience can never forget it, nor can he ever there­after doubt that,
however terrible the sin and sorrow on earth may be, all things are somehow
working together for the eventual good of all, and humanity is being
steadily guided towards its final goal. [61]

During each world-period we are told there are three
Lords of the World, and the present Holder of the office is already the
Third. He resides with His three Pupils in an oasis in the Gobi Desert
called Shamballa, often spoken of as the Sacred Island in remembrance of the
time when it was an island in the Central Asian Sea. These four greatest of
the Adepts are often called “The Children of the Fire-Mist,” since They
belong to an evolution different from ours. Their bodies, though human in
appearance, differ widely from ours in constitution, being rather garments
assumed for convenience than bodies in the ordinary sense, since they are
artificial and their particles do not change as do those of human frame.
They require no nourishment and are said to remain unchanged through
thousands of years.

The three Pupils, who stand at the level of the Pachcheka
Buddhas, assist the Lord in His work, and­ are themselves destined to be our
three Lords of the World when humanity is occupying the planet Mercury. Once
in every seven years the Lord of the World holds a kind of reception at
Shamballa, when the Adepts and even some below that level are allowed to
visit Him in the Mayavirupa; at other times He deals only with the
Heads of the Official Hierarchy. An Eastern secret book, in speaking of the
government of the world, compares Him to a King having the Maitreya Buddha
as His Prime Minister, and the Mahachohan as the Commander-in-Chief of His
forces. But this government is unlike any at present existent on earth, for
while [62] perfectly autocratic, it yet gives the most complete
freedom to all its agents. No possible penalty of any sort could ever attach
to disobedience to an order­ except indeed that anyone so disobeying would
be un­likely to have further work given him; yet so thoroughly does every
Adept realize the superior wisdom of the higher Powers that the mere idea of
disobedience is unthinkable. Nevertheless, every one has full scope for the
development and use of any particular talent that he may have, and entire
liberty of action is allowed to him as to the methods he may choose in
carrying out any task assigned to him. In fact in the government of the Lord
of the World the beautiful expression used in the old collect of the Church
of England is absolutely realized; for “in His service is perfect freedom”.
[63]

THE DEVA EVOLUTION

THE highest system of evolution connected with this
earth, so far as we know, is that of the Beings whom Hindus call the Devas,
and have elsewhere been spoken of as Angels, Sons of God, etc. Though
con­nected with this earth, they are by no means confined to it, for the
whole of our present Chain of seven worlds is as one world to them. It does
not seem possible at present for us to understand much about them, but we
may mention that while the object of our human evolution is to raise the
successful portion of humanity to the Asekha level at the end of the seventh
round, the object of the Deva evolution is to raise their foremost rank to
the stupendous level of the Lord of the World in the corresponding period.
For them, as for us, a steeper but shorter path to still more sublime
heights lies open to earnest endeavour; what those heights may be we can
only conjecture from the fact that from them came the Lords of the Flame,
the Agnishvatta Pitris, who assisted so greatly in awakening the
dormant Manas in man. Indeed, it is almost entirely from the ranks of
the Devas that until very lately the Hierarchy of our worlds has been
supplied. Almost all the Lords of the World in the previous rounds, and up
to the [64] present time in this one, have been the products of their
evolution, and so has almost every Buddha until the Lord Gautama. But now
that we have passed the most material point of our evolution, it is hoped
that we may be able to provide our worlds with the necessary officials for
the future, and leave our Elder Brothers at liberty to work elsewhere.

It is of course only the lower fringe of this august body
that appear on the astral plane. The three lower classes (beginning from the
bottom) are usually called Kamadevas, Rupadevas and Arupadevas respectively.
Just as our ordinary body here - the lowest possible for us - is the
physical, so the ordinary body of a Kama­deva is the astral: so that he
stands in somewhat the same position as humanity will do when it reaches
planet F. Living ordinarily in the astral body, he would go out of it to
higher spheres in a Mayavirupa,just as we might in an astral
body, while to enter the Karana Sharira would be to him (when
sufficiently developed) no greater effort than to form a Mayavirupa
is to us. In the same way, the Rupadeva’s ordinary body would be the
Mayavirupa, since his habitat is on the four lower or Rupa levels of
that spiritual state which we usually call Devachan; while the Arupadeva
belongs to the three higher levels of that plane, and owns no nearer
approach to a body than the Karana Sharira.

But for Rupa and Arupadevas to manifest on the astral
plane is an occurrence at least as rare as it is for astral entities to
materialize on this physical plane, so we need do no more than mention them.
As regards the Kamadevas, it would be quite a mistake to think of them as
immeasurably superior to ourselves; of course the general average among them
is much higher than among us, for all that is actively or wilfully evil has
long been weeded out from their ranks; but they differ widely in
disposition, and a really noble, unsel­fish, spiritual-minded man may well
stand higher in the scale of evolution than some of them. As a rule Devas
(except of course those who take some official position) seem scarcely
conscious of us on our physical plane; but it does now and then happen that
one of them becomes aware of some human difficulty which excites his pity,
and he perhaps interferes, just as any of us would try to help an animal
that we saw in trouble. But it is well understood among them that any
interference in human affairs at the present stage is likely to do far more
harm than good. Their attention can be attracted by certain magical
evocations, but only Adepts of the First Ray have power to command their
obedience. [66]

THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

AS an assistance towards the comprehension of the
destinies of humanity after the completion of this Chain, the analogy of the
Lunar Pitris and their classes is extremely useful. For although owing to
the entirely different conditions, it cannot be pushed too far, it certainly
holds good as regards many of the main facts. Just as among the Lunar Pitris
there are first of all two great classes, the corporeal and the incorporeal*
(* Students should note that this was the old terminology; since the
investigations recorded in Man - Whence, How and Whither the terms
are different.), so the earth’s inhabitants may be broadly divided into
those who pass the critical period of the Fifth Round and those who fail to
do so; and, just as on the Moon, the first of these classes has three
subdivisions and the second four. For the sake of clearness let these seven
classes be numbered in order: Class I consisting of those who by the end of
the seventh round have attained the Asekha level, while in the various
grades of Classes II and III would be those entities who have not yet
attained that position. Classes IV, V, VI and VII will include that portion
of humanity, expected to be about two-fifths of the whole, which does not
succeed in passing the critical period. [67]

All of these except Class I must pass on to the next or
fifth Chain of our cycle, which will consist of seven single globes, much as
our present Chain does, except that only one of them will be visible to
physical eye-sight. The Lunar analogy fails us here in one particular, since
it is Class IV (the highest of the failures), instead of Class III, who
first enter upon the new Chain, and under the guidance of leaders to be
presently mentioned, establish the forms through which the lower classes and
the differentiated* (* Individualized.) terrestrial animals are to follow
them upon the new Chain.

Classes II and III will drop into the new Chain at
appropriate periods later on, just as the flower and the second class of
Lunar Pitris fell into their places in the Earth Chain.

Turning now to the future of Class I, the flower of this
Chain, we find that here again analogy drawn from the Lunar Pitris is not a
trustworthy guide. This, however, was to be expected, for when man thus
attains his spiritual majority, whether in the slow course of evolution or
by the shorter path of self-development he assumes the fullest control of
his own destinies. The or­dinary course of a single Chain no longer affords
scope for his evolution, but he has before him seven possi­ble courses to
choose from, only four of which may at present be mentioned, and those only
in outline* (* Later we were told of a fifth choice, that of entering the
“Staff Corps of the Logos.”). [68]

(a) Those who enter Nirvana. Through what
in­calculable aeons they remain in that sublime condition, for what work
they are preparing themselves, what will be their future line of evolution
are questions upon which we may not touch; and, indeed, if information upon
such points could be given, it is likely that it would prove quite
incomprehensible to us at our present stage. They thus take their “Crown” at
once, but it must be noted that it is into the first stage of Nirvana that
they pass, counting the seventh as the highest.

(b) Those who choose a spiritual evolution not
direct­ly connected with the humanity of the next Chain, but extending
through two long periods (mentioned in the paper on the Evolution of
Humanity) corresponding to its first and second rounds. If they drift on
with the ordinary course of this spiritual evolution, without endeavouring
to force themselves in advance of it, they will attain the Chohan level at
the end of the first period, and that of the Mahachohan at the end of the
second period, when, having reached the highest point possible for them
without changing their Ray, they in turn will accept the “Crown” of Nirvana,
which will of course be a correspondingly higher one. It is also possible
for Adepts on the Second and First Rays to choose this evolution, if they
have already taken the Initiations of Chohan and Mahachohan respectively;
and in such cases the ordinary progress of evolution would raise them each
one step at the end of the two periods, so that at the expiration of the
second they also [69] would be standing at the highest possible point
of their respective evolutions, and would then accept the “Crown” of Nirvana
at corresponding levels. ­

(c) Those who “become Gods”, that is, who join the
Deva Evolution - not, naturally, the particular Deva evolution at present in
progress, since the entities engaged in that will by that time have passed
higher, but another on precisely the same level, where progress lies along a
Grand Chain consisting of seven Chains like ours, each of which to them is
as one world.

This line of evolution, being more gradual than the last
one, is somewhat easier, and may probably be taken by a majority of Class I.
Though this is sometimes referred to in Buddhist books as “yielding to the
tempta­tion to become a God,” it is only in comparison with the sublime
height of renunciation of the Nirmanakaya that it can be spoken of in this
half-disparaging manner* (* There is no possible question of self-seeking in
those who come to the stage of Adeptship. Whether they choose to enter the
Deva Evolution, or one of the other paths, will depend on the great task
which they place before themselves - that of giving themselves utterly to
the Will of the Logos, and on the preparation necessary to bring that task
to its perfect fulfilment in the Great Plan.). This evolution is fed by the
perfected humanity of other Chains in the Solar System besides our own, and
will, as before stated, carry those of its members who successfully complete
its seventh round to the stupen­dous level of the Lord of the World, before
they take their “Crown”.

(d) The Nirmanakayas - Those who, declining al1
these easier methods, choose the shortest but steepest path to the heights
which lie before them. They devote [70] themselves entirely to the
helping and guidance, along the lines of its new evolution, of the humanity
of the new Chain, consisting of the failures of our Chain and the entities
that have come up from its animal kingdom. It is chiefly from among these
Nirmanakayas that the Buddhas and Lords of the World of the earlier rounds
of the fifth Chain will be evolved. [71]

THE SHADOW OF THE BUDDHA

ABOUT four hundred miles west of the city of Lhassa, not
far from the frontier of Nepal, there is a small plateau surrounded by low
hills. This little plain is roughly oblong in shape, its length being
perhaps a mile and a half and its breadth rather less. The ground slopes
slightly from south to north, and is mostly bare and stony, though in some
places covered with coarse wiry grass and rough scrubby vegetation. A stream
runs down part of the west side of the plateau, crosses its north-west
corner, and escapes about the middle of the north side through a
pine-clothed ravine, eventually reaching a lake which is visible at a
distance of some miles. The surrounding country seems wild and un­inhabited,
and there are no buildings in sight except a single ruined stupa with two or
three huts beside it on the slope of one of the hills on the eastern side of
the plain. About the centre of the southern half of the plain lies a huge
block of grey white stone, veined with some glittering substance-a block
perhaps twelve feet in length by six feet wide, and standing about three
feet out of the ground.

Here there takes place each year in the spring-time an
extraordinary ceremony called the appearance of the [72]

Diagram 01.

[73]

Shadow or Reflection of the Buddha, to attend which large
numbers of men from surrounding tribes, and some even from hundreds of miles
away, make a kind of pilgrimage. For some days before the appointed time, an
ever-increasing cluster of tents of strange and un­couth appearance may be
seen along the banks of the stream and down the sides of the neighbouring
hills, and this otherwise desolate spot is enlivened by the camp fires of a
considerable multitude. On the day before the full moon of the month of
Wesak, (usually corres­ponding to the English month of May), the feast which
this huge crowd gathers to celebrate, the pilgrims bathe and wash their
clothes, in preparation for the ceremony.

Some hours before the time of the full-moon the people
gather in the lower or northern part of the plain, always taking care to
leave a considerable space before the great altar-stone. In a quiet and
orderly manner they seat themselves on the ground and listen most
attentively to the addresses and exhortations delivered by such of the Adept
or Initiate Lamas as are present in the physical body. About an hour before
the mo­ment when the moon is full the astral visitors begin to arrive, and
among them are the greater Adepts and the Chohans, who move among their
Pupils exchanging friendly greetings and blessings, and speaking a few kind
words to each. After half an hour or so has been spent in this manner, at a
given signal the Adepts and Initiates above a certain rank, altogether
perhaps 150 men, draw together in the open space in front of the great
altar-stone and range themselves three deep in a [74] large circle
all facing inwards, the inner ring standing closer than the others. Those
who have come astrally - of course the great majority - now materialize so
as to be visible to the vast crowd who are looking on in solemn expectation.
Some suttas or verses are now chanted, and as the voices die into
silence, the figure of a man suddenly appears in the centre of the circle.
This is Maitreya Buddha,* (* The Bodhisattva, the present World-Teacher,
called “Buddha” in anticipation of His future greatness.) the Head of the
Second Ray, and He holds in His hands the celebrated Rod of Power,
magnetised millions of years ago by the Planetary Spirit when first He set
the human life-wave in motion on this globe, and kept usually in the custody
of the Lord of the World at Shamballa - this Wesak festival being the only
occasion on which it ever leaves His care. It is a round bar of the lost
metal Orichalcum, perhaps two feet in length and about two inches in
diameter, having at each end a large ball and cone of wonderfully sparkling
crystal, which in appearance resembles diamond and very possibly may really
be so, though as there is no direct information on this point it is
impossible to be certain. It has the strange appear­ance of being surrounded
by fire - of having as it were an aura of brilliant yet transparent flame,
and it is note­worthy that no one but the Lord Maitreya ever ventures to
touch it. On His materialisation in the centre of the circle, all the Adepts
bow gravely towards Him, and another gatha is chanted, after which,
still intoning verses, the inner ring divides into eight parts, [75]

Diagram 02.

so as to form a cross within the circle, the Lord
Maitreya still remaining at the centre. At the next movement this cross
becomes a triangle, the Lord Maitreya moving forward so as to stand at its
apex, and therefore close to the altar-stone, which is covered with the most
beautiful flowers, great garlands of the sacred lotus being placed at each
corner. On it stands also a magnificently chased golden bowl full of water,
and on it during the next alteration in the figure the Lord Maitreya
reverently lays the Rod of Power. The circle having now changed into a
rather involved curved figure, all are facing the altar, and, the curved
figure presently becoming a reversed triangle, we have a representation of
the well-known seal of the Theosophical Society, though without its
surrounding snake. This in turn [76] resolves itself into the
five-pointed star, the Lord Maitreya being still at the southern point
nearest the altar­-stone, and certain Officials at each of the other points.

When this seventh and final stage is reached, the
chanting comes to an end, and after a few moments of solemn silence, the
Lord Maitreya, again taking the Rod of Power into His hands, utters in a
few sonorous words of Pali* (* Pali was the language which the Lord Buddha
spoke as He taught the people and His disciples.): “All is ready, Master,
come!” Then as He again lays down the fiery Rod, at the exact moment of the
full moon, the wonderful Shadow appears in air just above the southern
hills; and when they see it, the Adepts bow with joined hands, and the vast
multitudes of people behind Them fall on their faces, as they would before a
king, remaining prostrate, while the others sing the three beautiful
gathas beginning: “Yo vadatam pavaro manujesu, etc.” which were
taught by the Buddha Himself during His earth life to the boy Chatta* (* See
note at the end.). The translation is as follows:

“The Supreme Teacher of teachers among men is the Lord,
the Sage of the Sakyas; He has achieved per­fection and attained Nirvana,
and is full of strength and energy.

To Him, the Blessed One, I go for Refuge.

The Truth brings freedom from passion, desire and sorrow;
it is self-begotten, inviting, sweet, plain and logical. [77]

To the Truth I go for Refuge.

Four Grades there are of the Holy Ones, and Eight Ranks
they make; service to them verily brings great reward.

I go to the Brotherhood for Refuge”.

Then the people rise and stand gazing at that great
Shadow while the noble words of the Mahamangala Sutta (The Discourse
on the Greatest Blessing) are chanted. They have been translated thus* (* By
T. W. Rhys Davids, with minor amendations by C. J.):

[A Deva asks:]

“Many Devas and men, when yearning for good,

Have held diverse things to be blessings;

Do thou declare to us,

What is the greatest blessing?”

[The Lord Buddha replies:]

“Not to serve the foolish,

But to serve the wise;

To honour those worthy of honour:

This is the greatest blessing.

To dwell in a pleasant land,

Good works done in a former birth,

Right desires in the heart:

This is the greatest blessing.

Much insight and education,

Self-control by a well-trained mind,

And whatever word be well-spoken:

This is the greatest blessing. [78]

To support father and mother,

To cherish wife and child,

To follow a peaceful calling:

This is the greatest blessing.

To bestow alms and live righteously,

To give help to kindred,

Deeds which cannot be blamed:

This is the greatest blessing.

To abhor, and cease from sin,

To abstain from strong drink,

Not to be weary in well-doing:

This is the greatest blessing.

Reverence and lowliness,

Contentmentand gratitude,

The hearing of the Law at due seasons:

This is the greatest blessing.

To be long-suffering and meek,

To associate with the Brethren,

Religious talk at due seasons:

This is the greatest blessing.

Self-restraint and purity,

The knowledge of the Noble Truths,

The realization of Nirvana:

This is the greatest blessing. [79]

Beneath the stroke of life’s changes,

The mind that stands unshaken,

Passionless, unsorrowing, secure:

This is the greatest blessing.

On every side are invincible,

They who do acts like these,

On every side they walk in safety:

And theirs is the greatest blessing.

The figure which seems floating just above the hills is of
enormous size and looks less like a shadow than a reflection such as might be
produced by a concave mirror. It is said to be - and no doubt is - an exact
reproduction of the form and feature of the Lord Gautama Buddha when He lived on
earth. The figure appears seated cross-legged with the hands together just as in
the ordinary statues of Buddha; the dress is the well-known yellow robe of the
Buddhist monk worn so as to leave the right arm bare. No description can give an
idea of the face - a face truly God-like, for it combines calmness and power,
wisdom and love in an expression containing all that our minds can imagine of
the Divine. We may say that the complexion is clear yellowish-white, and the
features clearly cut; that the forehead is broad and noble; the eyes large,
lumin­ous and of a deep dark blue; the nose slightly aquiline; the lips red and
firmly set: but all this puts before us merely the outer mask and gives but a
little grasp of the living whole. The hair is black - almost blue-black [80]
- and wavy; curiously, it is neither long according to Indian custom, nor shaved
off altogether in the manner of Buddhist monks, but is cut short much as our own
is, except that it is swept straight back from the forehead.

When the Mahamangala Sutta is finished, the Lord
Maitreya raises the golden bowl of water from the altar­-stone and holds it
above His head for a few moments, while the multitude behind, who have also
provided themselves with vessels filled with water, follow His example. As He
replaces it on the altar-stone, another gatha is chanted, and a smile of
ineffable love beams forth from the face of the mighty Figure in the sky, as it
raises its right hand in the attitude of benediction, while a great shower of
flowers falls amongst the people. Again the Adepts bow, again the crowd
prostrate themselves, and the Figure fades slowly out of the sky, as the
multitude relieves itself in repeated shouts of Sadhu! Sadhu! (Holy, holy).* (*
This is the Pali word, used in Ceylon as the word of thanks­giving. C. W. L.
uses it when describing the scene. As the multitude will speak one or other of
the Tibeto-Mongolian languages, they would naturally use the corresponding word
of praise and thanksgiving taught them in their mode of worship.) Each Adept
sips the water in the golden bowl, and the people also sip theirs, taking the
remainder home in their quaint leather bottles as “holy water” to drive all evil
influences from their houses or even perhaps to cure the sick. Then the vast
company breaks up with mutual congratulations, and the people bear away to their
far distant homes an in­effaceable memory of the wonderful phenomenon they have
seen. [81]

Note:The gatha
chanted at the moment of benedic­tion is the “Itipiso Bhagava Arahan”
which is translated: “The Lord Buddha is the Lord, the Worshipful, Supreme in
Wisdom, Perfect in knowledge and action, who has come the good journey which led
to Buddhahood, who knows the three worlds, the Unrivalled, whose strong hand
guides men, the Teacher of Devas and mankind.”

THE STORY OF CHATTA

Chatta was a Brahmin lad Chatta Manavaka, whose story is
narrated in the Buddhist books. He was about sixteen when he saw the Lord
Buddha, who taught him the three verses. The boy, according to the story, had
come home for a holiday from his teacher’s Ashrama where he had been studying.
On returning to his teacher, he took with him the “teacher’s fee,” which,
according to the legend, consisted of a bag of gold. On his way back, the Lord
met him, and asked him if he knew the Three Gems and the Five Precepts. On his
replying that he did not know them, the Lord Buddha taught him the verses and
the Five Precepts and their meaning.

Chatta proceeded on his way; he was then waylaid by robbers
and killed for the gold with a poisoned arrow. He was unconscious of his death,
for he was chanting the verses; the instant he was killed he went to heaven,
because his mind was full of the wonder of the truths which he had received. The
legend then narrates that, when the body was found, there were great
lamentations from the parents and bystanders; the Lord Buddha arrived on the
scene (for He foresaw Chatta’s death necessitated by Karma, and planned to use
the occasion to teach to all the Way) and then called Chatta back again. Chatta
materialised, surrounded by a brilliant aura, and in answer to questions by the
[82] Lord, described the happy state he had achieved, because he had
“taken refuge” in The Lord, His doctrine, and His Brotherhood. After giving his
testimony, he returned to the heaven world. C. J. has translated the pretty
story from the Pali in a pamphlet, “The Story of Chatta” (1915).

Chatta in this incarnation was C. Jinarajadasa. It was
necessary for him, according to the occult law, to take the great Vow of
attaining Buddhahood before a Buddha living on earth. It was for this purpose
that he had the brief incarnation which closed so dramatically. Soon afterwards
he was required to be born with the group of servers at Athens. He was then born
as the eldest son of C. W. Leadbeater.